In the nineteenth century, travelling outside the city was not as dangerous any more as in
the eighteenth. The roads were better, there was more traffic, and hence the villains preferred
to stay in the background. There were no more mercenaries on the loose. But to come as far as
Breda in winter, one day and night were not sufficient.
Since olden times, traffic went to Liege and to Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) rather than to
Holland. Many Maastricht people went to live and work in Liege and vice versa. In 1853 already,
there came a railway to Aachen. The railway to Liege, that could also be reached
by boat, followed in 1861. Finally in 1865, the railroad to Venlo was ready. For the stagecoach to Brussels and
's Hertogenbosch (Bois le Duc) the old roads were still sufficient. The cargoboats went to den
Bosch via the Zuid-Willemsvaart and to Liege via the canal.
In the twentieth century, river Maas had to be canalized, because the river was too sinuous
and the waterlevel varied too much. In 1934, the Juliana canal was ready. For the growing
motorized traffic across the river after the war, two more bridges were built besides the two
old bridges: the Kennedy bridge and the North bridge. But motorized traffic was still to yield much
more headache.